A Beastly Problem
by KindredShadow
Summary: Dipper and Mabel go and visit their grunkles for the holidays. All seems calm until Ford pulls Dipper aside, telling him of some new mystery that he's found not too long ago. He asks Dipper to help him investigate... non-yaoi
1. Chapter 1

"Dipper, DIPPER! Wake up! We're finally here." Dipper slowly got up from the cold seat of the bus to see his sister Mabel dancing in her seat.

"Come on Dipping Sauce, we're gonna have so much fun!

Dipper sighed happily. It hasn't even been half a year since they left Gravity Falls, but after a lot of pestering and arguing, their parents finally let them stay in Oregon over Christmas vacation.

His thoughts were interrupted by his sister's sudden scream. "Dipper! We're here!"

Dipper jumped. "Agh! Okay I get it!" He gasped.

He slouched and sighed again, his breath making a puff of steam, it was really cold. As the doors on the bus opened they were greeted with the familiar sight of Grunkle Stan with a background of pine trees.

"Stan!" Mabel jumped into his arms, earning an 'oomph' from the older man. "Where'sFordanWendyandSoosand-"

"Whoa kid, slow down help your brother get the load you brought out into my car." Dipper _was_ struggling to get their bags out of the bus. "Heh," Stan laughed, "You haven't got an inch of muscle since the last time I saw you!"

Dipper turned pink and smiled, "It's great to see you Stan." Their grunkle grinned and wrapped him in a bear hug.

"Well, muscle or no muscle, we got to hurry, Ford said he's got a surprise for you." Stan said as they lugged their baggage to his ancient car. "Ooh I like surprises! Is it gonna be frog on a unicycle? Or a man-eating platypus?" Mabel squealed.

"Hmmm," Stan thought out loud. "Just hope it's not another end-of-the-world thing."

They got in and rode to the Mystery Shack in a comfortable silence until they reached the familiar residence of the grunkles. "Wow, there's so many icicles and and lights," Mabel said. "Dipstick, let's hurry up, I wanna know the surprise!"

Dipper got out of the car and began to get his bag out of the car, no use trying to get his sister's load out, she must have packed her whole room. "Stan? Has anything changed the last time we've been here? I mean, we didn't miss anything big, right?" Dipper asked.

"Well kid, I think that's the surprise." The Grunkle answered. "But, get it out of your mind, I think Soos is making hot chocolate for you both." Mabel squealed and ran with the impossible load on her back to the Mystery Shack. Dipper and Stan walked at a slower pace and found Mabel somehow got her bags to her room and was sipping from a mug at the table.

"I'll never figure out how she does it." Stan said under his breath, but their attention was diverted to the vending machine popping open to reveal Ford in his usual coat, not surprisingly, deep in a book.

He was muttering things as he took notes in it, but Mabel completely shattered his concentration with a loud squeal. (She has been doing that a lot the author and Dipper noticed.) "Foooord! I missed you!" The Grunkle seemed put off, but only for a second as he looked at Mabel's radiant face.

He smiled at her, but his expression became more serious as he turned to Dipper. "Dipper, I need you for something. Come down here when you've unpacked." With that, he went back down to the basement.

Even with no hello, Dipper became excited and unpacked as quickly as possible. His sister whined, "What about the surprise?" Dipper paid her no heed as he punched in the numbers to the vending machine and ran down the stairs to Grunkle Ford.

As he ran past the blinking lights of the underground lab, he caught glimpses of the portal remains. Once he reached Ford, Dipper stopped to catch his breath. "Ford I'm here."

He turned and looked slightly surprised and grinned, "It's good to see you again Dipper." His face turned serious again, "I need to send you out on a hunt." he said, cutting right to the chase as always. _What_ Dipper thought, _in the middle of winter?!_ But he kept his mouth shut and put on a slightly worried face, "What for?" he asked.

Ford turned to Dipper, the laboratory lights shining on him, revealing his unshaven face in it's full glory. In a grim voice he said, "I have caught glimpses of some sort of beast. It's tall with antlers and always carries a glowing object. But, I haven't found out what that object is, yet. But then, since you are much more able, I decided to take advantage of your visit and send you and your sister instead!"

He had a crazed look in his eyes that creeped Dipper out a bit. "Uh, Ford? When's the last time you've slept?" Ford turned to him, "Huh? Oh well, I haven't seen a bed in three days!" he said casually.

Dipper smiled gently, "Go to sleep, Mabel and I will catch this thing." Ford nodded and left behind a door leading deeper into the lab, probably his bedroom. Dipper jumped a _whooped._

He bolted upstairs to get his sister, finally with the surprise, and no clue what he was getting himself into.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, just a note, I really, really, REEEALLY would love to post every weekend, but school..and...yeah...you get the idea. So just read the chapter; I hope you enjoy!**

 **The author does not own Over the Garden Wall, nor Gravity Falls.**

"Mabel, MABEL! We got a mission! We gotta find a deer with a light that's bothering Grunkle Ford!" Dipper shouted as he burst out from behind the vending machine, "Wow, that made a lot more sense in my head, but still- wait, Mabel?"

Dipper looked around the shack, but found nobody, but Soos.

"Hey Soos, where is everyone?" Dipper asked. "I dunno dude, but Mabel seemed pretty happy to me when she left, even if she was pretty sad by your sciency stuff with Ford." Then he went back to sweeping.

Dipper sighed and went upstairs into the guest bedroom where he and Mabel stayed in over the summer, then he heard the front door open. He gasped and flew down the stairs. "Mabel! I- oh hey, Grunkle Stan. Where's Mabel?" Stan groaned, "She got invited to this party with her weird friends doing who knows what, I just hope giving her that 100% sugar soda didn't do anything to her brain. I don't want her dealing with illegal sweets...again."

With that, Stan went into the living room and turned on the TV. Dipper slumped onto the floor. He didn't want to go without Mabel, but he also didn't want to let Ford down.

But, Dipper finally made a decision. He marched upstairs and packed a flashlight, his journal, his phone (though the reception is horrible), and a first aid kit. On hindsight, he probably should've packed a weapon of some sort, but it's a hindsight for a reason, and set out.

* * *

Wirt really wasn't one to run away from danger after the situation of the Unknown. Sure, he and Greg had a lot of nightmares, but they had grown a lot tougher, too. But, on his birthday, he found the dark lantern sitting casually on his desk. He bit his arm to keep himself from screaming.

Wirt went over just to inspect it, but some unknown force pulled his hand to the handle of the lantern. He felt a strong bond with the lantern and some memories that he never lived rushed into his head. He somehow _knew_ his soul was in there.

He was becoming the Beast.

Wirt kept telling himself that it was okay and made sure no one else saw the object that contained his life. But, that was also before he grew antlers.

It happened as he was combing his hair, the brush got caught on something, and it _hurt._ He decided to inspect it later, as he already was late to his dentist appointment. Unfortunately, the dentist noticed something, too.

Wirt's teeth were growing sharper.

At that, Wirt donned his red hat from Halloween and his cape, a new one now reaching his ankles and ran; away from his mother and father...and away from Greg.

 _Greg, oh jeez_.

Writ couldn't be seen like this, his branch antlers were huge now and his eyes glowed a red with two shades of yellow surrounding the iris with a rim of teal. There was no way Greg wouldn't have a heart attack from seeing him like this.

So finally, Wirt found himself in a strange forest, assessing his new powers, like seeing in the dark, summoning people's souls, controlling any kind of wood, turning living creatures into edelwood trees, and a few other nifty things that weren't so nifty later on.

In this forest, he found an area with a hollow under a tree. It was rather large, good for Wirt's height and antlers. He didn't need to sleep or eat, so really, the hollow was there for passing time. Or just somewhere to call home.

But, then there was civilization to worry about. Wirt found a town called Gravity Falls with...rather interesting people. But, he found the inhabitants were scared of the forest, leaving Wirt in peace.

Of course, that was before he met Grunkle Ford. And Dipper.

By this time Wirt found out a way to turn already dead animals into edelwood trees, so there wouldn't be as much suffering for his lantern and he'd sing the song he always heard the beast sing to draw people to him, except he thought no one could hear him.

Like always, somebody did. That special someone was Dipper Pines.

* * *

Dipper felt bad for leaving his sister behind, after all they were they mystery twins, but if she was going to ditch him for Candy and Grenda, fine. Dipper could do it on his own.

He started in the forest by the shrinking and growing stones and admired the tiny animals. Then he heard a smooth voice singing a eerie song.

 _Come wayward souls, who wander through the darkness._

Dipper didn't know why but he felt the strangest need to follow the voice, and he started to run to the sound.

 _There is a light for the lost and meek._

His legs were burning and his lungs felt like they were clenched by an iron fist.

 _Sorrow and fear are easily forgotten._

Dipper wasn't really athletic, but he never got tired this fast, it was almost ridiculous, but the voice kept lulling him on, and on, and on….and on...and on….

The last thing Dipper remembered was collapsing from exhaustion and passing out.

* * *

Wirt felt bad every time a creature of some sort would hear his song and collapse right before they saw him, no matter how much stamina they had. But never had a human come to this part of the forest. His home.

He jumped from the tree branch he was perched on and took the boy to his hollow, where he made a bed of leaves and waited till he woke up. As he watched though, he noticed the boy's lips were turning blue and he was shivering.

That's how Wirt figured out that the temperature does not affect him.

But soon, he made a fire in his cave and the boy started stirring.

He groggily opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his neck. "You're awake," Wirt said, his voice much deeper than it used to be. Dipper jumped in shock at creature tending the flames. "W-who, what a-are you?," Dipper stuttered out.

The beast chuckled and looked at him with his luminous eyes. "I am the Beast, but I'd rather be called Wirt." he said. Dipper nodded and asked, "Why are you here? To dominate the world?" Wirt sighed, "No, that is not my reason I'm here. But enough about me, what's your name?"

Dipper eyed him suspiciously.

"Dipper," he finally said.

Wirt threw another log on the fire, "Well Dipper, wherever you came from, you'll have to wait. There's a blizzard raging outside and this fire might not be enough to keep you warm." Then he looked at his lantern.

It was still burning bright.

"Um, Wirt...you're not here to hurt me…?" Dipper asked nervously. Wirt laughed, "No Dipper, if I did, you'd be in my lantern right now." Dipper noticed the lantern for the first time and pulled out his notebook, similar to Grunkle Ford's journals, and started writing information and sketches.

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of powers do you have?" Dipper asked, forgetting all the danger, replaced by curiosity to find out more about Wirt. Wirt looked thoughtful for a second, "Well, I can see fine in complete darkness, I'm immune to the cold, and I don't need sleep or any kind of food or water."

Wirt decided it was best not to tell him about the edelwood trees. "So, you're sure you're not here for power?" Dipper questioned. Wirt frowned, "Yes I'm sure, I just want peace and quiet...from everything."

"Everything?" Dipper said, "Even family?," he asked thinking about Mabel. Wirt abruptly stood up to his full height, making the height difference painfully obvious. Dipper's eyes barely made it to Wirt's shoulder.

Suddenly Wirt's eyes were cold, "I need to find something, stay here, you'll die if you go outside." he stated bluntly and left.

Dipper sat in his bed of leaves, contemplating what he said that made Wirt so hostile, so _beastly._

*/:(¥):\\*

 _ **January 29, 2017**_

 **Okay, bad ending, sorry. This one was a little rushed, I admit, but at least it's longer than the first chapter which I hope it will be for the rest of the story. Anyways, read & review, it makes my day. Until next time! (I'm probably going to edit this one...)**

 **~Kindred**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hoi, I'm baaaack! I got really sick and I didn't really feel like doing anything, but that doesn't matter right….? *eyeing the angry people looking at me* Hehe...ENJOY! *runs***

 **The author does not own Over the Garden Wall, nor Gravity Falls.**

Dipper sat on the cold stone floor and wondered if anyone would be worried about him. He also wished he waited for Mabel to search for the beast, not by himself.

Not really thinking before acting like always.

He sat up and looked out the entrance of the hollow. The blizzard was still raging, Wirt was right. He would die if he left the warm cave.

Now he wished no one was worried for him, they probably would get hurt looking, if they did. Hold on, did Wirt leave his lantern here?

* * *

Wirt trudged through the snow thinking of Dipper. If he was writing stuff about him, that may mean he wants to study him. And to study him, he'd have to rejoin civilization. The thought created a wave of panic inside him.

He didn't mean to overreact about his family either, but just a thought about Greg made him want to curl up and die in shame. But, he couldn't really die unless his lantern gets snuffed.

 _His lantern._

"Oh shoot, shoot, shooot!"

Like a bolting deer, Wirt turned ran as fast as he could back to the cave, his cloak whipping behind him as he ran. But, as he leaped over toppled trees and such, he forgot about the antlers.

To his left, as he swerved to avoid a tree, his antler hit the tree at full force and cracked louder than a breaking bone.

Wirt cursed and picked up the broken tree branch/antler thing. Then he touched the broken part on his head. To his surprise he found it was bleeding heavily. He huffed and took off again, this time a bit more careful.

It doesn't really matter to have a broken antler if you die anyways.

* * *

Dipper looked through his notes (there were barely any) about Wirt and his...situation. "This looks like a curse of some sort, but this has too many outlier qualities…" he muttered to himself. "What does this lantern have to do with anything, also?" Dipper commented as he poked it.

Suddenly, Wirt burst into the hollow. "Don't touch that lantern!" He shouted, causing Dipper to jump at least a foot in the air, almost knocking the lantern over.

"Whoa, whoa what's with you and that lantern anyway?" Dipper exclaimed as Wirt snatched it up.

"This carries my soul, if I goes out, I die." he stated.

"O-oh, sorry."

Wirt didn't respond and kept staring at the lantern. Dipper scooted closer to the wall, "Uh, y-you antler's broken, could I fix it?" Wirt nodded and sat down, still holding the lantern.

Dipper fished around in his backpack for his first aid kit and pulled out a long strip of bandages. He wrapped it around the broken shafts and tied it neatly. "Strange.." Dipper muttered

"What's strange?"

"Well, it's usually horns that have blood vessels, not antlers. I just find it strange." "Not as strange as this place," Wirt countered.

Dipper nervously laughed, "Y-yeah well, the bleeding should stop soon, but you might want to wash your cloak sometime soon." That was true, the left side of Wirt's cloak was soaked in blood.

Wirt nodded and stared into the fire, Dipper sat by his side.

"Something is bothering you." Dipper said. Wirt sighed, "Something is always bothering me." Dipper persisted, "You haven't been here for long have you?" He asked.

Wirt nodded, "I just recently ran away from...my family. Then I found myself here." Dipper winced, he would have to be careful, Wirt didn't seem too keen on talking about his family before. It was a touchy subject.

"Well, do you mind explaining how you got here?" he asked slowly. Wirt sighed, "It's a long story."

"I got time."

Wirt frowned. He explained his adventure with Greg in the Unknown and more importantly, the beast. He also explained how he gained his powers and the lantern and found himself here.

Dipper scratched his chin. "I think this is a curse, but the fact that you gained you powers days after the Unknown doesn't make much sense."

"I learned not to question it."

"There has to be a reason why." Dipper insisted. Wirt looked down at him, "Listen, think later, sleep now. You've got dark circles under your eyes and you're chewing on your shirt."

Dipper looked down and indeed was chewing on his shirt. His cheeks turned a little pink. A faint smile danced on Wirt's lips. "I used to be like you, my studies always keeping me up." Dipper looked confused. "How old are you?," he asked.

"Sixteen." Wirt replied, " And I'm guessing you're about thirteen." Dipper nodded. _Wirt is a year older than Wendy_ , he thought.

Wirt's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Now stop stalling and go to sleep, or I'll knock you out myself."

Dipper grinned, "I think I'll add 'commanding personality' to my notes."

"Goodnight Dipper."

"'Night Wirt."

*/:(¥):\\*

 **February 9, 2017**

 **Aaaand that's a wrap! So review and whatnot about the chapter. I'll try to update ASAP, but no guarantees. And that's all, so until next time! (Sorry it's a little short.)**

 **~Kindred**


	4. AN I'm so sorry

**Mmmmhm, so I know I haven't updated in, like, a year but don't fret! I have not given up on this story, I just needed some inspiration and that took a year to find, unfortunately. This story will be going under a rewrite soon, I just don't know how soon and I hope I haven't made anyone agonize over waiting for this. Thank.**

 **~Kindred**

 **(If you have any questions or concerns, just ask, I might actually answer them)**


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